John marshall



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1 J. MARSHALL. GOLD SAVING APPARATUS.

No 581,886 Patented May 4, 1897'.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. MARSHALL.

' GOLD SAVIM; APPARATUS.

No. 581,886. Patented May 4,1897.

UNITED STATES JOHN MARSHALL, OF FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGN OR TO THEMARSHALL GOLD SAVER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

GOLD-SAVING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,886, dated May 4,1897.

Application filed March 17, I896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN MARSHALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairfield, in the county of Solano and State of California,have invented certain new and useful.

Improvements in Gold -Saving Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the saving of free gold contained in crushed oreor quartz or the auriferous sand or gravel by amalgamation; and itrelates more particularly to special improvements upon an inventiondescribed and shown in an application for Letters Patent filed by meAugust 9, 1895, Serial No. 558,800. In that application was shown ablower by means of which the sand (by which I mean any kind ofauriferous material crushed or naturally fine) was blown uponamalgamated2o rollers, which retained the free gold and permitted the sand toescape.

My present invention contains improvements partly relating to thefeeding and dis-. tribution of the sand, partly to the blower, andpartly to the amalgamator itself. Such improvements will be hereinafterpointed out, as well as many details of construction which need not bespecifically referred to here, but which are fully hereinafterdescribed, as well as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of my gold-saving apparatus complete. Fig.2 is also an elevation, but of the opposite side of the machine. Fig. 3is a plan view. Fig. 4 is a detail longitudinal section of the hopperand distributer and of the blower-casing. Fig. 5 is a front elevation ofFig. 4, partly broken away.

The supporting frame of the machine is shown in the drawings as composedof sills A, uprights B, and horizontal beams C, suitably braced andstrengthened.

D is a driving-shaft journaled in the frame and provided with apower-pulley or with a hand-crank 1, as shown.

E represents the hopper, into which the auriferous sand, gravel, tailings, or other material is fed. This hopper is mounted above anddischarges into a screen-boX F, containing, preferably, two screens F Fof difierent Serial No. 583,625. (No model.)

mesh. The screen-box is slightly inclined, as shown, and with the hopperis given an end shake which agitates and at the same time feeds thecontents along while the screens are separating them. In order toproduce this end shake, I have shown the screen box and hopper assuspended by links 2 2 from transverse rods 3, secured in the frame,Fig. 3. An arm 4, Fig. 4., is secured to the end of one of these rodsand is connected by a pitman 5 to a crank 6, the latter being on one endof a shaft 7 at the rear of the machine. This shaft derives its motionfrom the driving-shaft by means of pulleys 8 9 and a belt 10.

The material in the screen-box is separated into three grades. Thecoarsest grade, which cannot be advantageously worked, is dis chargedfrom the screen E into a chute G, by whichitis carried away. The secondgrade is discharged by the screen F into the chute G and thence into theamalgamating-trough hereinafter described. The finest screeningsdischarged from the bottom of the shakingboX fall into the hopper I,which is a feed-hopper for the blower-casing J.

In the hopper I are agitators or scrapers 11, which oscillate above thedischarge-tubes 12, leading to the casing J. (See Figs. 4 and 5.) Thesescrapers are secured to a rod 13, jour 8c naled in the hopper Iandhaving at its end a crank 14.. A pitman 15 connects this crank to thearm 4, before described, and the connection between crank 14 and pitman15 is made adjustable, so as to vary the stroke of the stirrers. Theblower-casing J consists of a circular chamber for the fan J and anair-blast passage which terminates in a fiat nozzle or discharge-openingl6 beyond the tubes 12. The shape of the nozzle causes the 0 dust orsand to be discharged in a thin horizontal sheet. The blower-shaft isdriven at high speed by the small pulley 17, which derives its motionfrom the relatively large pulley 18 upon the shaft 7 through a belt. 5(Shown in Fig. 2.) The sheet of sand or dust discharged by the blowerspreads somewhat into fan shape and falls'upon the surface of the rotaryroller K, having an amalgamated surface, which is driven by a twistedbelt 19 from too the driving-shaft, so that its motion (arrows in Figs.1 and 2) tends to carry the gold adhering to it away from the blast. Asecond and smaller roller L and a brush M are all driven in the samedirection by a belt 20, which connects together pulleys 21 22 23 on therespective shafts of the two rollers and the brush. The brush M runs incontact with both rollers K and L and brushes from them any sand whichadheres as well as any particles of gold which are not amalgamated. Allthe material which is so brushed off, as well as any which has missedthe amalgamated surfaces, is guided by a hood N into the transversetrough O, which is mounted upon the base of the frame in position toreceive also the screenings from the chute G. The inclined surfaces ofthis trough are also furnished with plates of amalgam. Such surfacesconverge downwardly to a channel or well P, which contains mercury andin which is seta carrier Q, which is preferably a screw conveyer drivenby a belt 24, which connects its shaft-pulley 1.5 to a pulley 26 on thedrivin g-shaft. The carrier might, however, be an endless belt runningin the well and having teeth or brushes and driven in the same way. Theprocess of amalgamation is commenced by the rollers K L, continued bythe inclined surfaces of the trough, and completed by the well ofmercury, in which the screw revolves,

the screw serving not only to agitate all thematerial and bring all ofit into contact with the mercury, but also to drive off all the sand andwaste at one end of the well. By these means I am enabled to save a veryhigh percentage of free gold contained in any kind of pulverizedauriferous material. The end of the main frame which supports therollers K and L has its vertical standards B hinged to the sills A andsupported at the top by bars 27, pivoted to the fixed part of the frame.By such an adjusting device as the holes 28 and pins 29 the angle ofthis end of the frame may be changed, if required, so as to change thedistance between the rollers and the blower should the blast be toostrong, or the contrary, for the consistency of the sand. The rollers Kand L are removable, as well as the brush and hood, and I can, ifdesired,

adapt the machine to wet amalgamation by adding any suitable kind ofwater-distributer to supply water to the trough, which contains thescrew conveyer.

Other modifications which may suggest themselves to those skilled in theart may, without invention, be made in my machine, and hence I do notlimit myself to the exact details of construction shown in the drawingsor herein described, having simply endeavored to show and describe whatI consider the best embodiment of my invention.

l Vhat I claim is- 1. In an amalgamator, and in combination, afeed-hopper, an air-blower, amalgamated rollers in the line of theblast, a trough located in relation to said rollers so as to receive aportion of the material supplied to said surfaces, and a screw conveyerin such trough, substantially as described.

2. In an amalgamator, and in combination, a feed-hopper, screens forseparating material delivered by said hopper, amalgamated surfaces, ablower for discharging one portion of the separated material upon suchsurfaces, an amalgamating-trough having a screw conveyer, and placed soas to receive material from said amalgamated surfaces, and a chute orpassage for conveying another portion of said screened materialdirectlyto said trough, substantially as described.

3. In an amalgamator,the combination with an ore-feeding hopper and witha blower, of amalgamated rollers, adjustable with relation to theirdistance from said blower, substantially as described.

4. In an amalga1nator,the combination with an ore-feeding hopper, andwith a blower, of a movable support, means for adjusting said supportrelatively to the blower, means for holding said support in differentpositions of adjustment, and amalgamated rollers carried by andadjustable with said support, substantially as described.

5. In an amalgamator,the combination with an ore-feeding 'hopper, with ablower, of a hinged frame, and a roller having an amalgamated surfaceand journaled in said frame, and means for driving said roller,substantially as described.

6. In an amalgamator, the combination with the parallel amalgamatedrollers, of a blower, and a rotary brush running in contact with bothrollers, substantially as described.

7. In an amalgamator,the combination with an amalgamated roller, of ablower, a brush in contact with said roller, a trough beneath saidroller and brush adapted to receive mercury, and ascrew conveyorjournaled in said trough, substantially as described.

8. In combination with a horizontal amalgamating-roller a blower, and ablower-casing having a horizontally-elongated discharge passage ornozzle whereby the material discharged is permitted to spreadv betweenthe nozzle and said roller, substantially as described. I

9. In an amalgamator,the combination with a driving-shaft, of twoparallel rollers, a brush in contact with both rollers, pulleys on theshafts of said rollers and brush and a single belt upon said pulleyswhereby said rollers and brush are driven simultaneously in the samedirection, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses, this 2d day of March, 1896.

JOHN MARSHALL.

WVitnesses:

O. B. WEBsTER, JNo. M. GREGORY.

